Prost! Oktoberfest Is Here!

Check out some of the area's Oktoberfest celebrations over the next few weeks.

Strap on your blue checked suspenders and raise a stein of beer to celebrate the Oktoberfest season. Here are a few Bavarian-inspired events and beer-focused festivals around Boston that are embracing their inner oompah. Prost!

Olde Magoun’s Saloon518 Medford Street, Somerville617-776-2600Wednesdays and Sundays through October

Pull on those lederhosen and tighten your suspenders. It’s Oktoberfest time! The Winter Hill brewpub has filled their tap lines with over a dozen German beers to try during this Oktoberfest celebration. Beyond the beer selection, the chef will feature traditional German fare like pretzels, potato pancakes, wursts, schnitzel, sausage-stuffed pork belly, sauerbraten, and strudel every Wednesday through October, and German roasts every Sunday during the month-long festival. Olde Magoun’s Saloon will also host their annual all-day Oktoberfest party on Sunday, October 1st, which kicks off at 9:30 am with an early Bayern Munich match.

Just as Oktoberfest kicks off in Munich, Germany, on Saturday, September 17th, so does Dorchester Brewing Company’s celebration of the same name. This free event, will feature a live German band from 3 pm to 6 pm, traditional festival food from b.good, and plenty of freshly tapped Oktoberfest beer (Dorchester Festbier, Dorchesterweisse, Imperial Pilsner), all served in liter steins.

Bar Boulud’s chef de cuisine, Michael Denk, and Harpoon Brewery are teaming up to bring you an authentic Oktoberfest menu to celebrate the world’s largest celebration of beer. A menu of: hand-twisted pretzels with Vermont cheddar beer dip ($10), a Bavarian sausage sandwich with pickled coleslaw and spicy brown mustard ($12), alpine cheese spaetzle with crispy fried onions ($12), and a Bavarian dessert trio of apple strudel with vanilla sauce, black forest cake, and a plum tart ($12), will available daily from 4 to 10 pm in the restaurant’s bar, lounge, and on the terrace. Harpoon’s Octoberfest, a Marzen-style beer with hints of chocolate and malt will be on tap and pairs perfectly with the hearty Munich-inspired menu.

Harpoon OctoberfestHarpoon Brewery, 306 Northern Avenue, Seaport, Boston617-456-2322Friday, September 30, from 5:30 to 11 pm, and Saturday, October 1, from 1 to 7 pmTickets to this 21+ event are $25 and include a souvenir pint cup and one drink ticket.

Raise a glass of Oktoberfest, UFO Pumpkin, or Flannel Friday to celebrate Harpoon Brewery’s 27th celebration of fall beer. The two sessions will feature the brewery’s beer, bratwursts, dancing, and plenty of great music from oompah bands.

This German-themed 5k, for all levels of runners and walkers, travels through Kendall Square and ends with a beer festival. Registration for this race, to benefit Cambridge Family & Children’s Service, includes a t-shirt, free food, and free beer from Cambridge Brewing Co., Notch Brewing, Bantam Cider, Swiss Bakers, and Jacob Wirth.Beat Brasserie’s Bavarian Beer Hall13 Brattle Street, Cambridge617-499-0001Sunday, October 9th, 10 am to 12 am, music starts at 11:30 am

Beat Brasserie will embrace a German alter ego for one day only. Stop by to hear oompah music, polkas, and drinking songs from Die Lustigen Musikanten des Heimatlandes aka The Mad Bavarian Brass Band, from 11:30 am to 6 pm, and from 7 pm to 11 pm. The Harvard Square hotspot will also offer a traditional Oktoberfest menu of sausages, schnitzel, pretzels, strudel, and more. The day-only Bavarian beer hall transformation will include community tables, lederhosen, dirndls and plenty of German beers.

Kerry Stanton is a recipe writer, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She writes for Dirty Water Media and the Boston Herald.
“I will not settle for anything less than exceptional food at every meal. This doesn’t mean that I demand excessive extravagance or prized ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner - I just want well-cooked, properly seasoned food, presented beautifully. I think we all deserve this much.”

POPULAR CATEGORY

Dirty Water Media is Greater Boston’s most in-depth source for what's happening, trending, and being talked about in the New England nightlife, dining, music, fashion, entertainment, and sports scene with reviews, commentary, and breaking news updates from a dynamic team of writers and reporters. Dirty Water TV takes you to the best parties, hottest venues, and coolest destinations around and is broadcast on NESN Saturday and Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. Dirty Water News brings you all the best that New England restaurants, fashion, lifestyle, music, and nightlife has to offer. And Dirty Water Sports breaks down the storylines of Boston's beloved sports teams with brash commentary, pithy reporting, and smart -- yet often snarky -- analysis of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins.